REShow: Steve Young/Matthew Stafford - Hour 2

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The ball reaches speeds of 150 miles an hour. The action is intense and the danger factor is high. Six-person teams of professional athletes play the sport at the Magic City Fronton in Miami, Florida. I invite you to check out all the action Monday and Tuesday at 5 p.m. and Friday night at 7 p.m. Go to JALAIworld.com or download the free JALAI app in the App Store. This sport with its intensity and athleticism is well worth watching. Check out all the action at JALAIworld.com. Matches are played similar to tennis with a player or team required to win two sets to win a match.

Each set is played up to six points. It's a sport you need to check out. JALAIworld.com. Monday and Tuesday at 5 p.m. Friday at 7 p.m. We front-load you with what turns into a story in reality. Rich Eisen. He's one of my favorite people in the world. Oh my god, love him.

Live from the Rich Eisen Show Studio in Los Angeles. Salty Tua. Take control. I'm giving Tyreke a shot. Just know that he is getting the ball.

Yeah! That sounds like an undefeated quarterback. Earlier on the show, Super Bowl winning quarterback Drew Brees. Coming up, Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Plus actor Josh Duhamel. And now it's Rich Eisen. Our number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air.

844-204 Rich is the number to dial here on the program. Matthew Stafford going to be joining us in a matter of moments here on this show. He's going to be taking on the San Francisco 49ers in a huge Monday night football game. We just previewed the Thursday night game moments ago between Tua and Burrow, Dolphins and Bengals and those guys having a history together and Tua having had his entire pro career to this date seen through the prism of the immediate success of Justin Herbert and then ultimate success within two years getting to the Super Bowl on Joe Burrow. The fact that he walks in as a 3-0 quarterback, the only one in the AFC, has got to feel good for him and it is a big game certainly for the Dolphins if they can follow up that huge win over the Bills in just four days. A short week after a hundred degree weather on the field in Miami. A playoff game that was very entertaining. The facto playoff game, very entertaining.

We just hit all that if you missed it. Stick around right here on the Roku channel. Channel 210, our show re-airs as soon as we are done.

Hour three is Josh Duhamel. I mentioned that Matthew Stafford's coming up on this program in just a matter of moments but we turn to the Mercedes-Benz phone line and find the subject of this week's episode of NFL Icons which is an NFL Films produced and Epics produced and broadcast show every Saturday night at 10 Eastern on Epics. It is awesome. I am honored to be narrating it.

It is as good as anything that NFL Films has put together and the subject matter of this week, October 1st, Saturday night, 10 Eastern, NFL Icons, Steve Young joining us here on the Rich Ices Show. How you doing Steve? Great Rich, how are you buddy?

Better talking to you man. Yeah it is just an amazing journey and tonight's game like I mentioned with Tua, his journey and that's what I love about journeys, Joe Burrow's journey from the state of Ohio where you know his whole journey and yours is incredible. Do you ever sit back and think man I can't believe I did that.

It's not only that Rich, it's the forks in the road where you don't really have a choice. You know when Doug Scoville turned to me as a freshman in college, he was the offensive coordinator at BYU at the time and he didn't know my name and he didn't really know, he hadn't really recruited me and by November he knew my name and he said, he called me one, you know you're like hey young come over here you know I go over there and he goes hey by the way I don't coach lefties and you're like uh all right well I guess that's the end of my quarterbacking career at BYU and luckily he left two months later for a head coaching job at San Diego State and so that gave me the opportunity. Ted Toner came in and then you know the rest is history but it's like those binary moments right where he wasn't going to coach a lefty that that would have been the end you know like there's probably 20 of those where you know if it doesn't go the right way you don't no matter how you feel about it uh things aren't going to get worked out and so anyway you look back on the journey it is it's you don't want to you don't want to go back there Rich because you're like wow that is crazy I can't believe all the things that happened and I'm grateful I'm grateful for all the then you start to say how grateful you are for all the people that were the kind of angels along the way that kind of pushed you in a direction the coaches the the just the friends and people that kind of moved you along and kept you and then also kept you from problems and get kept you out of trouble and get all that stuff you look back on when these kind of these kind of moments when you when you want to start from the end I completely agree with how much you know it's kind of overwhelming to think about yeah I mean very rarely when I'm reading your script that NFL films gives me for for anything let alone NFL icons Steve I'm wondering if there's a typo on it what were you on the death chart at BYU at one point where were you eight string now rich remember in 1980 is the only they and maybe Stanford a little bit and University of uh uh Florida Miami Florida uh they were the only schools that threw the ball and we're getting guys kind of ready quote ready for the pros everyone else is running the wish bones split up for your option uh some version of uh you know kind of a option game and so I had this crazy dream that I wanted to play pro football I wanted to throw it in college and so BYU was the place to be and they had who knew there were eight other guys who also felt the same way at that time and I was eight I was eight because I don't know if it was alphabetical first I thought oh this must be alphabetical you know that's why I'm that's why I'm eight yeah I find out now it's it's legit it's straight up it's straight up legit and all the names are still in my mind all the guys in front of me and and by the time uh Ted uh Ted Toler showed up in the winter time and I was working with Tom Homel playing safety because they they moved me because they couldn't coach a lefty and then uh when he showed up and said why why are you working out the defense because you're throwing the ball really well I'm like because they because I'm lefty he's like well that's stupid and then uh so then so then spring ball he convinced Lavelle Edwards the head coach said look let's give Steve Young a couple weeks and let's see what happens by the end of a couple weeks I was backing up Jim McMahon as a incoming sophomore so what a story man and then and then how did you get draft like walk me through Steve Young to your drafting professionally and what happened with the separate leagues at the time and how that all worked out for you well it's fun I mean the USFL became that year all the owners they they got the the I don't know the chutzpah the the you know they realized that they could they were entrenched they had the the attendance they had the tv you know they're they're a league and they could make it and so then they went to the next thing is to try to get the the you know the seniors in college the incoming draft class and that's when they went at the Memphis Showboat starting Reggie White and Herschel Walker and uh and I got I basically got recruited by Don Kloster but I know uh Rich I don't know if you remember Don Kloster who was the GM of the Rams for years under Carol Rosenbloom and so he had left the Rams that was now running the LA Express and with Sid Gilman and Sid Gilman was man he was I mean he must have been 70 years old at that time 75 years old but he was the one that coached John Hato and he was the west coast off I mean he was the roots of Bill Walsh's west coast offense so those guys are recruiting me and the other side is that it says any Bengals are the first pick Sam Weiss and obviously it's just a much different you know environment and uh and should come to LA Manhattan Beach uh elementary school here's all these young players we we have Gary Zimmerman well Gary Zimmerman ended up being a pro football hall of famer out of Oregon um yeah Joe Go Town so we had a bunch of guys and they were going to play right away and have fun so I did it I I decided that uh and Reggie not Reggie White and I had become close friends at the hula bowl and the all-star game and I had my dad helped him find an agent we were close and when he went to the Memphis Showgirls he gave me the in my mind gave me the the ability to say you can go to this league it's going to be okay so that's what I did and then you did and then you wound up obviously in the NFL with Tampa how did you wind up in San Francisco Steve how did you finally wind up there well so you went to the USFL one of the reasons why you went to the USFL was because if you didn't make it or something happened we didn't merge that you'd come out a free agent and then of course the NFL PA you know I was the only NFL PA you know I'm still kind of bitter about it that they negotiated uh all of our rights into a supplemental draft and that's when I went number one to the Tampa Buccaneers so I ended up there Ray Perkins shows up after Lena Bennett gets fired and Ray Perkins tells me that he hates lefties and he hates travelers and I'm like oh this is come on how many people are gonna tell you that Steve unbelievable I feel like uh you know the disrespect but that's when uh I was traded to St. Louis Cardinals who was an equally bad team and I had made a great relationship with Hugh Culverhouse the owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the time and in a trusted relationship and he had told me you know three months before you're my quarterback for life you're the guy I want to build a team around you're the kind of guy that I want here that whatever and so I got the call from Ray Perkins you're well you traded the St. Louis Cardinals I called Hugh Culverhouse said Mr. Culverhouse come on man you know you told me I was the quarterback for life now three months later and you'll just I'm so sorry you know I don't I don't control this guy well you can't send me to St. Louis I mean that's just not just wrong you know and so he said hold on a minute so he called me back said look I've mixed that trade you go and find a place where you feel like you you know you feel good we'll try to make that work and that's what opened up the door for Bill Walsh to give me a call and come to Provo Utah worked me out and then after that workout he and I were fast friends and that's how it happened. So but didn't you know at the time I mean obviously you know Montana's there I mean didn't you have any reason what happened rich so so Bill shows up and says the reason why I'm recruiting you Steve is because Joe's had his second back surgery just last week and if you know back surgeries there's no way that you know as great as Joe Montana is he his back is not going to be able to make it and so we need somebody come in and be ready to take over and so for me and I told Bill at the time look coach I'm I'm I'm going to go play like I'm I'd rather go to law school than sit around and watch I'm not going to watch so you tell me I don't want to wish anything bad on Joe but if you're telling me that this is an opportunity then I'm you know I'm going to take it and I remember I this great story I'm sure I told a thousand times but the first practice I I'm I'm out there early ready to go and I've never met Joe Montana in my life and Joe comes out he's jogging and I think my immediate first thing is he doesn't look hurt he does not look like he's on his way out and that's when I turned to Bill and coach Walsh as a coach uh Joe looks pretty good and he gave me the shrug of the right look and smile and that was it I'm this is on you know you remember the next four years it was on so it was that's one way to say it Steve Young it was on it sure was on well because I didn't it was awkward from the very beginning because I didn't want to back up Joe didn't want me to be there so it was like it was off the beginning so um but here we were so we made the we made the best of it and went on and won Super Bowls and MVPs and everything else so when you finally won it and told Gary Plummer and that famous NFL films one would take the monkey off my back the last you know several minutes of our conversation that's also the monkey right like that's it yeah of course I mean especially when you know uh you guys now Tom Brady has been here 20 years so we're more like akin to what it takes to be seven times Super Bowl at the time there was already two Super Bowls and ended up with four and uh an unheard of kind of success at the time and so yeah and then so the city you get the city becomes an embodiment of the success and so the next guy well you you can't go you can't go south you got to go north you know and that's why it's uh and to this day I mean I think that Jimmy Garoppolo and I think Trey Lance still have to own the fact that this is a town where your Super Bowls are you know on don't worry about it and I think that's still probably true Steve Young here is a episode of NFL icon Steve Young again on epics um Saturday at 10 Eastern time and you can stream epics right here on the Roku channel um and check it out on Saturday night Steve you just mentioned Lance and Garoppolo and then when Garoppolo is sticking around with Lance there it it's kind of like you know had Montana moved on and then you were getting in the range and Montana still staying you know like that's that's what I was thinking at the time it's it's an oddity there's no question and no one would have thought it not Jimmy not Kyle or John Glinch the general manager thought that there was a chance that Jimmy would not find a home and uh and that and all value for the 49ers and for Jimmy it just didn't happen and so they ended up back with each other and now you saw last week there's this edge of resentment that's been built or like like naturally right you've been rejected and you don't want to take that in and uh so I'm I'm slightly concerned about going forward with the relationship with Jimmy and with uh Kyle and John it's just can we can we display all the things that have happened can we still keep you know a profitable relationship it can be tense just make sure that it's creatively tense right not toxically tense and uh and I think there will be a that'll be a fine line throughout the year depending on how things go because there's certainly a lot of broken glass between everybody and you know like like any big time uh highly sought after job in in in the world uh you gotta be able to have thick skin and you gotta be able to you know move beyond you know the rigor of uh the moment so we hope that all everyone in the in at the 49ers can do that especially around those three guys because if they can't find a profitable way forward then where are we you know and then it gets really kind of tougher so what's the toxic uh part of it the fact that you know Jimmy took the the pay cut to be the backup and he's now the starter again and making that much less or what what do you got I mean what is it about it like he's he's 34 and 14 uh went to the Super Bowl went to a couple of championship games and now they're telling him we don't want you we don't we don't want you and we're gonna let you go and we're gonna withdraw to somebody else well you're you're done so then he has to take all that success in his mind and make sense of it like why am I being released why am I being fired and what you don't want to do naturally is say well it's because I'm not getting things done or I'm not doing my part you take it as well they're idiots you know and then people around you say that everyone's an idiot and then pretty soon you you listen to everyone you say you don't take in the full measure of why you're being let go why you're being fired as a part of what you've done so you could learn and grow and you you get you build resentment and victimization and so that goes on for six months through his injury and everyone's telling them how wow it's can't wait to get out of there you know that's I'm glad they forget those guys you know not look have I heard those words said no but I'm just saying if you think about the human nature of it you know screw those guys you'll be better off somewhere else and you start talking and thinking about that for six months and then you end up back in the same spot and maybe if you don't have those really if those conversations that make things more positive you you're ending up together remarried when when you haven't really solved the original problem right and and I guess then you could also remember the good times of that first marriage in the first half of that you know Sunday night game in Denver and then in the second half of that Sunday night game in Denver it was all the reasons why they they wanted to break up in the first place right and so right and and I guess nobody blackmailed Jimmy G into signing that contract to stay put either so he chose it what do you think about Jimmy G's just uh game and matched with Shanahan's yeah like what do you what do you think Steve Kyle is a innovative you know people are going to come open in his offense there it's a it's a it's a grinders offense in a sense that it's a grinders offense for preparation and um it's it's really an embodiment of um the sophistication of what he's trying to do on the field and Jimmy by his own admission is you know I want to wing it I want to just let it I want to be like 2017 I just want to let it rip and so there's um and you know the great grinders uh on the data through the years of the guys that are at the top of the league that's Tom Brady that's uh Kate Manning through Brees and Rogers the grind they grind through the data and there's guys like Jamis Winston and you know these guys that love to just rhythm you know just let me rip let me go and there's highs and lows and in the highs and lows Kyle obviously didn't want to ride the rides and jimmy wants to ride the highs and I mean he wants to ride the highs and then you know how do we solve for the lows and I think that's why though the two of them have to find a profitable way forward so that they can find that place where hey Jimmy I need you to do extra here and coach I need you to help me here and those are the kind of conversations hopefully are happening right now Steve Young here on the Rich Eisen Show before I let you go let's go full circle here because again in your uh we'll see it on Saturday night and the icons episode and you had mentioned it a number of times you heard well I'm not coaching lefties uh Tua tonight man um you know I don't know how deep you are into the Twitterverse Steve Young but uh somebody um flipped the video of Tua's uh deep throws to make it look like he's a right-hander and I'll be honest with you I was way more impressed when he was thrown a right-handed and I know I'm talking to you here after what you said uh but there is a bias right uh clearly uh you you overcame it and you got a bust in the hall of fame uh what's your advice to Tua uh after three huge games and huge weeks and and and how viable do you think he is with this Dolphins offense to shock everybody and and maybe do it all what do you think Steve? This is Mike McDaniel came out as Kyle Shannon it's the same kind of offense that I would love to be a part of and you can see the difference and you can see it in his footwork and his confidence in his feet and how he's delivering the football and allows all of his athletic ability to come out now look we recognize every athlete has limitations and we see Tua's but you can see the full measure of it the last three weeks of what he can get accomplished and so as long as he stays with somebody who really brings out the most in him which I think Mike is doing Coach McDaniel is doing then that's going to be the key and that's why and then as you're successful the lefty righty thing goes away like it just does but it's weird Rich I don't want to leave it behind because why why is it that is I know there's only 10 percent of the population is lefty but why is it that there are zero other than Tua before Tua there was zero for number of years of 64 jobs in the NFL zero lefties and through the years handfuls of lefties in the league ever and so the obviously the bias is real and baseball it's not there right if you're lefty you're cool you get paid more and especially you pitch yeah but for whatever reason the football football is very right-handed and what I could have been rich if I was right you could have been higher than eighth on the depth chart at BYU Stephen that's right but it all worked out in the end and I'd love watching you on ESPN you're awesome Steve you're the man you right back at you right back at you it is I cherish that and I don't know if you've seen your episode it's dynamite it's great no I can't wait it'll be fun I'll watch it I'll watch it together on Saturday you're gonna love it NFL icon Steve Young Saturday night 10 Eastern on epics thanks for the time Steve you be well love it rich take it right back at you Steve Young Pro Football Hall of Famer can class of 2005 and again you can stream epics on the Roku channel start a free trial today it's perfect timing it's a great great series you're gonna love it when we come back the quarterback of your world champion Los Angeles Rams before he takes on Jimmy G and the aforementioned 49ers don't worry we're gonna be have fair and balanced I think George Kittle's joining us tomorrow but when we come back Matthew Stafford on the Rich Eisen Show 2000 2008 2022 when it comes to the economy those are some scary years dot-com crash housing crash and the roller coaster we're kind of going through right now one thing is certain it's a dangerous time to not know your numbers but over 31,000 businesses have the confidence and clarity they need because they rely on NetSuite by Oracle the number one cloud financial system NetSuite gives you visibility and control of your financials inventory HR planning and budgeting so you can manage risk get reliable forecasts and improve margins everything you need all in one place so how do you prepare for uncertain times the answer is simple NetSuite it's 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always they're available with 24 7 member service reps to answer any questions learn more at navy federal dot org slash car buying that's navy federal dot org slash car buying credit and collateral subject to approval navy federal credit union is federally insured by ncu a the mayor of tampa florida chimed in on twitter after uh hurricane em made landfall about what 40 30 40 miles south of there we're sending our best to all the water soaked and and unfortunately destroyed communities on the west coast of florida tampa does not appear to be one certainly uh enough for the mayor of tampa florida to tweet out jane castor on another note we're doing our best to keep the buccaneers game here sunday i have assured the nfl that the only disturbance here sunday is when the bucks kick ass that's what she tweeted out holding up a buccaneers flag with the chiefs slated to play tampa on sunday night on nbc and the nfl apparently has heard from all the authorities the relevant authorities down there and checked all the boxes and it has been announced that the game will in fact be played at raymond james stadium as scheduled on sunday night that's cool as the bucks are currently practicing in south florida and the dolphins facilities the dolphins are in cincinnati tonight so everybody kind of pitching in and pitching together and we're glad to hear that and glad to hear that and tip our cap to the authorities all over the state of florida helping people out and trying to bail them out and certainly get ready to take their minds off of things with a game in tampa uh monday night football is going to be played in san francisco or santa clara where the rams and the niners play a huge game in week number four game that can be heard on westwood one i will be sitting on the uh in the chair um the host chair of pre and halftime of that game on westwood one as i do every single monday night and thanks to our friends at westwood one pitching in together i bring you a zoom chat i had yesterday with the rams quarterback joining me here now on the rich isin show is the quarterback of the world champion los angeles rams getting set to take on the 49ers on monday night football matthew stafford how you doing matthew i'm doing good rich how are you i'm doing good does are you gotten used to that being referred to the world champion los angeles rams um not really but uh at the start of a new season i feel like it uh changes everything for us we just go back to just another team hunting for another one but uh it was definitely a good run last year yeah i'm sure it was i am sure it was and you know uh it was i imagine uh a nice little wake-up call week number one where you got to see right there in front of you what what it would take to to repeat i imagine is that the way you guys took it yeah it was a tough test you know obviously buffalo came and played really well we didn't play up to our standards there's no question about that but um it's a humbling game you know this this game weekend and week out you look across the nfl right now you see quote unquote you know top tier caliber teams losing every single week and and um you know the parity is at an all-time high so um it's something that if you've been in this league for a long time you understand and it doesn't surprise you you just uh have to go out there and prove it every single week really yeah and so uh what was that mini bi week like for you sitting on that game as you did for uh for a week plus matthew yeah it was um you know it's it's tough anytime you lose like that you want to get back out there as soon as you can um but it was great for us to you know have some time to reflect we were getting um you know a bunch of guys back uh you know kind of later in training camp the one thing about going and playing in the super bowl is all those injuries and surgeries and things like that they happen a little bit later so it's nice to to have a couple extra days early on at the beginning of the season to get guys back and and um you know it was nice to uh you know come out the next week and play a little bit better matthew stafford here on the rich eisen show so um i'm curious the play where cup ran it in last week against arizona was that the same play in the super bowl that you guys ran on fourth and short i know it was to a different side of the field but i'm just wondering was that the play no it's not the exact same but a similar a similar type play yes um you know and uh it had a little bit of a different feel to it we run so many of those motions um and just kind of pick and choose our spots to hand those off and we feel like we get an advantage and really the guys on the outside executed it really well it was a great scheme with a little bit of a different feel to it for the defense um you know from our coaching staff and then obviously cooper did a great job of executing it all he did was just run the 200 meter nice little slow curve and uh you know get in the front pylon you know i i asked him this prior to the home opener you know on westwood one in the same spot that we're talking right here prior to your monday night game and i asked him about that play because you had kind of given me a little bit of a heads up on it when you were on the nfl network set prior to the scheduled release show when you were kind enough to be the guest to kick that all off and he gave me his perspective on how that play was born and almost never happened and obviously got uncorked at the biggest moment of your lives and careers on a football field can you walk me through your perspective on on that big fourth and short play yeah i mean there was a lot of a lot of hours put into that play and um you know some of them prettier than others you know there were some some attempts in in um you know in practice it didn't go our way we're trying to figure out hey are we going to be on my cadence are we going to be on the silent cadence are we going to be this that and the other and uh just trying to figure that out time it out as well as we possibly could koop and i spent a bunch of time talking about it and and uh came to sean and we're like hey we feel really confident that if you call this thing we'll be able to get the thing done and and uh the timing and the um you know the feel of that play that we were able to uh to get done really helped and obviously in a huge moment in a big game did mcveigh at one point say because a cup made it sound like mcveigh's like forget it you guys aren't going to get it let's just take this out of the playbook and forget it did that happen yeah there's you know there's points in the week sometimes where he's like hey let's let's save this shelve this for another time we got enough we got plenty of other good stuff and and that's part of being a great coach too is knowing when to when to pare down and then when to trust your players and he's got a great feel for that and he was able to trust us on that one and it was one that he felt strongly about um we just needed to find out how we were going to execute it the right way to make it come to life and once we figured out how to execute it the best way it uh you know it worked out for us yeah and so what was it like from your perspective then for him to then after that whole place birth and then very i guess choppy maturity uh to get that call in your headset let's do that one at that moment yeah i mean i i had a feeling it was going to be a short yardage call in the game you know i didn't know it was going to be fourth and one on our own you know our own side of the 50 in the you know in the final minutes but uh it worked out that's part of what makes him great is his ability to trust his gut in those situations and and uh trust us us players to go out there and execute it and we were able to get it done and uh um you know it makes all those hours and all that time you put in um working on something when it comes to life like that in a big moment it makes it all worth it so um when i spoke to cooper as well earlier this year i asked him since i knew you wouldn't you know pound your chest a little bit about what winning the super bowl meant to you and your career i asked him to speak for you and he did by the way he spoke very kindly of you so i'll now ask him ask you about him he won't pound his chest too but a kid from eastern washington nobody really thought could amount to much collegiately let alone professionally is now a super bowl mvp uh and and a guy who is a triple crown winner and not your first by the way professionally to be on uh the throwing end of it what about cup and what he's become and your relationship with him matthew stafford yeah i've spent uh you know as much time with him as i have probably any teammate in my career um i have unbelievable admiration and respect for how he goes about his um his daily business the way he carries himself as a teammate and as a player um he's ultra talented um people kind of want to look at all the other things that he does so well you know whether it be the blocking or the teammate stuff or this that and the other and forget to look at who he is as an actual athlete and that's a pretty special athlete as well um you know but as far as his career goes there's so much more out in front of him um to be able to uh to get this done at this early stage in his career i was just happy to be a part of it i enjoy going to work every single day working with all these great teammates that i have but really enjoy working with him um you know in those days you know however many you know we have left you know playing together it is going to be uh you know an enjoyable one for me so i'm just proud to be a part of it and i'll ask this um even though their games are obviously in styles different any similarities with calvin johnson and cooper cup from your perspective two of the hardest workers i've ever been around two of the guys that uh you know just competed without with or without the football is as good as anybody i've been around and and um frankly pretty similar guys when it comes to you know who they are off the field really humble guys um come from you know really great backgrounds where you know hard work dedication being a great teammate or all those core fundamentals that were you know instilled in them by their parents and and uh just continue to show up week in and week out whether it be in high school college or pro football so lucky to be a part of both those guys careers love getting a chance to work with both of them um you know and obviously have a you know quite a bit more left with koop matthew staffer a couple minutes left with him prior to monday night football um against the 49ers man it just seems that they're always there in front of you right this 49ers team three times last year now here you are in week number four what is the challenge that this team presents to you matt you know i think they're obviously really well coached um both offensively and defensively they're really sound and what they do they're a big physical unit um do a great job of running around and hitting on defense um you know i know the challenge for us uh just like in every single game it always starts up front right they want to they want to run the football on offense we got to do a great job of stopping it they want to penetrate at the defensive line spot um you know whether it's in the run game or the pass game we've got to do a great job of being the more physical team um you know on on monday night but uh they're always a big time challenge they've got great players i mean you look across the board um both offensively and defensively they've got great players guys that make impacts on the game and um it's always a battle um enjoy going to battle against them um you know it's it's one that was new to me a little bit last year just being first time in a ram's uniform but uh you know the rivalry has uh you know quickly you know quickly been ingrained in me i'm sure and isn't it amazing i mean you've again been around this league so long where anything is possible that jimmy garoppolo is a starting quarterback there still it's a it's a wild it's a wild league it happens uh you know happens fast and happens slow in some instances right you know it's it's one of those things where you just don't know and and uh you know obviously a really tough injury um you know for trey but uh you know jimmy's a really qualified player man he's uh he's done great things for them when he's gotten the opportunity and taking them to super bowls and nfc championship games so he's a he's a really talented guy have you noticed the target on the back that all super bowl champs have where all 16 used to be and now 17 opponents that you have treats you as if you're the figurative super bowl uh have you noticed that i mean we've gotten great you know great uh great efforts against against the first three opponents there's no question about that but you know to be honest with you in the nfl i feel like that's every week i don't care who did what last year or last week um you know the the teams that i've been a part of that have been successful have showed up every single week understanding that and knowing you got to go out there and prove it in that three and a half hour window and if you don't then it doesn't matter what you did last week or last year um the results probably aren't going to be in your favor so um you know that's kind of how we take it here and and just understand that it is a week-to-week um business is cliche and as frustrating as that is for some people to hear and understand but that's that's how we have to live because uh that's the truth all right so a few off the map as i always like to do with you a couple for you before i let you go matthew stafford um do you talk to stetson bennett do you reach out to him do you have any connection with him i don't uh i'm a fan i'm a fan from afar i'm i'm not uh one of the better georgia alumni probably when it comes to connecting with the uh you know players and stuff i know more of the coaches i'm the old guy that knows the coaches now okay um and some guys in the in the you know the front office type situation but uh i'm a huge fan from afar man they're a really good football team and they're fun to watch and again you just i mean you see what the kid is making of himself i mean the opportunity because the conversation well you know what he's not even in the heisman conversation last two years now yeah he's incredible yeah he is he's really fun to watch i mean he's just a you know he's one of those guys that is really athletic people don't give him enough credit for it i think he throws it really well he obviously understands what they're trying to get accomplished playing and play out does a great job of getting the ball to the right place and shoot he looks like he has a ton of fun which is uh which is half the battle as well speaking of fun to watch would you use that term to describe andrew whitworth's television analyst career so far i think so i think so we were uh you know we were finishing up a thursday practice i was walking in to go uh you know go back in the office a little bit and you know saw the tv and i believe he was in cleveland was he in the stands in the dog pound with a bunch of fans a big bone out there i don't know what was going on but my guy was in a different spot than he was a year ago i know that so uh i'm happy for him cheering him on you know loving that he's doing well and no no phone calls to him based with some of the uh banged up offensive linemen that you're dealing with no no no no we're we're set i think he's set in his role i still still catch up with him have breakfast with him every once in a while just to say what's up but uh um i think his his playing days are done okay and what's the most los angeles moment you've experienced since moving to the west coast what is it matthew i mean there's there's plenty um you got one just some you know uh some sightings i would say some people that i've seen you know what i mean where you're just dropping your kids off at school and you see some people that are quote unquote really famous and and uh uh really you know interesting 365 days ago i'm dropping them off at a school in detroit and wouldn't have ever thought i'd see anybody that was uh you know of that stature but it's it's been fun it's been a whole lot of fun my family loves it my wife's having a great time my kids are loving it so that's really all that matters for me okay and you you've picked up on when people say let's hang out here in la they don't really mean that right like let's have you picked up on that have you gotten that treatment that la treatment if you know yeah i mean i i uh i don't have too many interactions with a bunch of people outside of football so okay um but i'll use that one myself if i'm really trying to get out of something let's let's try right here do you want to hang out let's yeah sure sure let's get some let's get something on the books we'll hang out sometime it's like you were born here man like you were born here matthew you were born to be in los angeles oh man thanks for the time greatly appreciate it good luck appreciate it thanks down the road that's matthew stafford of the super bowl champion la ramps well having heard that back because you know i lived it yesterday uh having heard that back for the first time i realized two things one what a missed opportunity when he called himself the natural i could have said he's the natural i wouldn't say you missed it well if i if i'd done that then i would have extended like you know you got to know when to leave the room you don't know when to leave it right i would have extended it but you didn't make brockman's head explode oh my god i don't know if that's gonna make his head his head explode but what a jewish call himself a natural i'm like oh no you're the natural never say never but never you're so used to being beat down and do it did you miss the opportunity and the other thing is based on how how naturally he was like yeah let's put something on the books and he's just new to here in in southern california in hour one drew breeze said let's get something together for pickleball i'd say he's been in southern california a long time oh he knew do you think he means it nah nah yeah we don't like i'll never play pickleball we do know the same people in the world if you would it would be like a charity thing like set up so yeah he's so cal based i think down in san diego because when he said that i was like when are you going to louisiana but no no no okay he's here i mean he spends time i think he spends time in both communities but i do believe he's southern california based so it could happen it could happen he didn't seem like the type who would tell you that hey man let's get some like so if i if i reach out to him let's get something on the books then oh i mean you don't do that you don't do that in la you're going out of town i got this thing you still want to drive across la that's the problem that's not he's not la he's no no no no he's geographically unsound like he's all the way down in san diego that's a commitment that's a whole day that's a whole day a whole day just play pickleball here like people don't even want to take two hours to have lunch yeah but you can't play pickleball with drew breeze and i don't stand i think it would be fun it would be great why what i know and i'm i don't mean to go higher register and i think it would be great and i think he was sincere i don't know i mean i just heard that and i'm the one who brought it up with stafford speaking of picking up kids at the school line susie told me that she saw a kind of a famous person uh dropping the kids off yeah we got yeah that's los angeles i don't want to say who but there's a guy who's you know stand up could be in this room right well wait a minute hold on a second she want she asked me if i wanted to hang out who did i asked her if i wanted to hang out when you first dated no just the other day and she's like yeah let's do it wait a minute it's my own wife doing it to me my wife she hates that yeah we know we know all right all right let's take a break when we come back here hi sus salty russ and yes my top five missing pieces of the nfl season there's some missing pieces out there top five list come back this episode is brought to you by samsung unfold the all-new galaxy z fold 4 and expand your world with flex mode it stands on its own so you're hands-free to get more done during calls and with multi-window view you can use up to three apps at the same time plus the edge-to-edge screen allows you to fully immerse yourself in your favorite games and shows visit samsung.com to learn more about galaxy z fold 4 come join tv's ross matthews every thursday on his new podcast hello ross hi i'm ross matthews and i am so excited to tell you about my brand new podcast hello ross you know i just said that yeah i know i was just saying it again to emphasize the name of my new podcast it's hello ross look you only have like 30 seconds to tell them about the new podcast hello ross you have to tell them about the celebrity guests the interesting people with cool stories to tell and it's new every thursday go ahead you'll never know who's gonna pop by to say hello ross it could be an oscar winner the star of your favorite show even my dental hygienist really no she's fascinating okay anyone else one time i was at a dinner party and the lady across from me turns out she was a dominatrix oh that's gonna hurt i've been a naughty boy are you going to ask we're gonna go there for real and there for real reals you better stretch i better stretch what the hell on our show nothing's off limits i'm gonna ask that question no and that question no and i'm gonna get away with it oh boy so it's like mr rogers neighborhood right except think of it mr matthews gayborhood oh that sounds fun you know that actually does sound fun and it's on youtube or wherever you listen wait that's my line hello ross available on youtube or wherever you listen okay now you just repeated me we are so over our time limit oh that's a bummer you can listen to the nfl and the nfl app on westwoodonesports.com via westwood one station streams or by asking alexa to open westwood one sports if it's the nfl it's on west wood one so eli manning and the manning cast said uh they should pay the punter 235 million dollars in denver right that's what he said on monday night because as you know there was a lot of punting in sunday night football but russ came out victorious and then russ was uh i guess in his press conference yesterday had placed before him the eli manning comment and this was his response russ did you happen to see eli's fun little dig at you a little bit and wondering how you respond to that d why do you even kind of former peers pick on you a little bit fun they know you don't want chad powers um yeah you know chad powers you know um i'm three and oh against chad powers you know um you know listen i i think that uh you know that it's uh it's part of the game and we're just having those guys having fun you know and everything else i have a lot of respect for patin and eli and those guys those guys mean you know i've always looked up to those guys so i'm not i'm not stressing about it as a matter of fact if i'm not mistaken was he wasn't he the guest on one of the first manning casts last year and actually he was incredible because it was the fourth quarter when all kinds of chaos was happening right and it was three yeah and you were like wow like russ could have a broadcast feature in his career oh yes it was great yeah yeah it was great but he does know what he was against eli of all time chad powers the guy who he was uh the walk-on of course russell wilson not being in seattle you would think would make my top five list of the uh most missing pieces in the nfl through the first three weeks of 2022 but he is not he's not i don't know if uh even if russ was quarterbacking this current seattle seahawk team uh if they would be any better than one and two quite frankly uh that said i think long run long run they will miss him in seattle um he is not on this list find out who's made the list right now my top five missing pieces of the 2022 national football league season through just a few weeks uh okay here it is number five on the list it's kind of easy to say but we will see how it matriculates week one certainly did not look like they had trouble matriculating the ball down the field in kansas city even though they were in arizona that day but 44 points week one is just like they're not missing tyree kill last couple weeks i don't know kind of missing tyree kill a little bit in kansas city we'll see somebody can emerge to take the top of the defense off in a very dangerous way consistently where you're circling that player all week long before you take on the kansas city chiefs i don't know who in the wide receiver position of kansas city is being circled in tampa bay this week i profit to say nobody it's 87 that's getting circled so until somebody can start doing what tyree kill did on a consistent basis i'm gonna keep on saying he's a missing piece in kansas city and i know i'm pissing off my buddy stone street by saying it but i can only shoot you straight number four on this list devante adams in green bay man look i know they're two and one but you can just see every now and then it's a struggle and 12 to 17 was a very simple answer certainly inside the five yard line and it's a struggle it hasn't been easy so far and we're we're going to be talking about rogers and lazar trying to be like rogers and adams and who's going to be who else is going to be there from the young kids that's going to be the conversation all year guys number three on this list talked about it with drew breeze and now our number one it's sean payton in new orleans and i'm not just saying that dennis allen's not doing a good job as the head coach of the new orleans saints that defense looks terrific that hasn't skipped a beat the offense is skipping that record i'll tell you that didn't help that alvin camaro wasn't healthy against the tampa bay buccaneers and not playing and then we're already seeing the fact that michael thomas isn't practicing in london and jamis winston is having a bit of a fortnight but you i don't know this offense is just going to be very difficult to even remotely look like the previous one sean payton to me is a missing piece number two on this list is d andre hopkins in arizona how fast can he get back please how quickly can he get back cardinals are one and two and they're lucky to be that week seven okay and that six game suspension cannot go fast enough in arizona they are missing d hop in a big bad way in arizona but at least he'll come back number one on this list ain't walking through that door to use the boston sports vernacular number one on this list is josh mcdaniels in new england yeah fact good one fact fact fact okay joe judge and matt patricia will be talking about their play calling for a long time and now brian hoyer is going to get there sooner rather than later although the word out of new england is that mack jones still has a shot to start this week that would be quite the tightrope if you will skip but josh mcdaniels is a missing piece and i know i'm naming the head coach of an o-3 team right now but as the play caller in new england attached at the hip of mack jones just when mack needed him he goes to vegas and that's my top five list our three coming up but we're still here on the roku channel i almost chris put tom brady there because three years later three seasons we're in our third season there he's he'll be the missing piece in new england until he steps back into private life but i know that's a little bit too cute the troop missing piece for this patriots team this year as compared to last right well you saw how max potential last year with mcdaniels and he looked pretty darn good in week two in acro sure though brother they did come up with that win and it's not joe judge or patricia's fault i don't think that calleis campbell collapsed his ankle it was the last play of the game it was a kind of a fluke thing but for consistency's sake when you're taking a year one to year two quarterback who had such a terrific year one and you're removing the guy who was in his ear all the time and somebody who was the identity of the play calling of that offense i mean there was no question and how many times have you questioned bella check with which assistant is doing what you know never any question about that guy and that side of the ball and now there's nothing but which is why i'm putting him number one even above actual players and an actual head coach i like no i think it's very fair very fair so more on the potential of brian hoyer playing this weekend or not because mac jones apparently is walking around the building making it seem like he will against the packers josh jumel in studio and what happened to that judge home run ball coming up audible has everything you love listening to and more it's the home of storytelling there's no better place to find all the stories your imagination craves like the hottest new releases of the year audiobooks exclusive originals and popular podcasts including the rich isin show they're all on audible whatever you're in the mood for audible has an incredible selection of audio entertainment for you to choose from maybe you want to get the real story behind your favorite team's winning streak maybe you want to hear celebrities talk about their lives and careers or maybe you could use some pro hacks on how to better your business better your relationships or just get better sleep and 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